Ayurveda Workshop Sunday 21st July

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What is Ayurvedic Healing?

In our last blog What is Ayurveda, we talked about the main parts and purposes of this ancient healing modality. Once you find out what are your doshas and have an idea of both your prakurti and vikruti, it may be time to start using this new understanding of your personal make-up to improve your overall health.

photo by Fern

Ayurvedic treatments are varied but may include any and all of the following: custom food plans, daily routines, herbal remedies, poultices, pranayama breathing exercises and yoga as well as other therapies such as oleation, massage and chakra balancing. (It is important to note that Ayurveda is not meant to be a substitute for Western medicine. It is best used as a complement to the allopathic system.)

We are excited to be hosting Yasmin F. Gow this Sunday (July 21) at our yoga studio in Kreuzberg as she presents an Intro to Ayurveda workshop. This workshop is designed to help you to deepen your understanding of yoga, help you choose the best kinds of asana and pranayama practices for you and help you to further love, appreciate and listen to your own unique body.

Ayurveda and Yoga: The Ultimate Blend
“As a yoga teacher, studying Ayurveda and becoming a certified Ayurvedic practitioner has changed everything for me, from the way I eat to the way I teach. My understanding of yoga, its Eight-Limbs, and its healing process has deepened through the study of Ayurveda. Not only am I happier and more aware of my own personal needs, I am also increasingly sensitive to the needs of my yoga students and Ayurvedic clients. Ayurveda has shown me that no one diet or any one yoga practice is necessarily good for everyone. Success and healing lie in the art of creating a tailor-made routine for the individual and simultaneously empowering that individual to observe his/her own natural rhythms and make his/her own conscious choices to lead him/her towards health and happiness. In teaching yoga, I call this approach Sustainable Yoga for Long-term Happiness (SuYoLoh).”

-Yasmin Gow

Date & Time: Sunday, July 21, fom 13:00 till 16:30
Teacher: Yasmin Fudakowska-Gow
Cost: 20 € (15 € for current English Yoga Berlin students)

About Yasmin
Yasmin F. Gow, ERYT 500, has taught yoga for over a decade. She is also an accredited Ayurvedic practitioner and the producer of five yoga DVDs. In 2010, she completed 108 days of 108 sun salutations and became the first woman to break the Guinness World Records™ Record for the longest yoga marathon lasting 32 hours. This initiative raised thousands of dollars for charity and was featured in publications worldwide, including India’s national newspaper the Times of India. A former studio owner, Yasmin currently offers Ayurvedic consultations, leads workshops internationally and mentors others to reach great heights.

What is Ayurveda: An Introduction to Balance

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Ayurveda is a healing modality indigenous to India. Often referred to as the ‘sister science’ of yoga, it has been practiced as a medical system for more than 5000 years and is still highly effective and widely used. The word Ayurveda means “science of life” or “lore of life” in Sanskrit. The guiding principle of Ayurveda is to promote health through the balance of the five natural elements— earth, water, fire, air and space (ether). 

Due to the unique qualities of the elements, it is believed that pairing them creates three distinct energetic constitutions or “doshas”. Within the human body, the three doshas are known as Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Each has specific mental and physical attributes and governs certain bodily functions.

What Are the Three Doshas?

VATA is composed of air and space and controls all movement and communication in the body including communication between neurons, circulation, breath, voice, transportation of nutrients to cells and excretion of waste. Vata is also associated with creativity, intuition, open-mindedness and adaptability.

PITTA is comprised of fire and water and is responsible for transformation, digestion, assimilation and production of cell energy. It contributes to our strength, both mental and physical. Pitta is also considered the fire or light that ignites our passion, motivation, ambition, courage and intellect.

KAPHA is made up of earth and water. Its main function is to lubricate and protect. It governs plasma, mucous and adipose tissue, construction of cell membrane as well as growth and development of the body from fetus to adult. Emotionally, Kapha is also about compassion, reliability, mental stability and memory.

Finding Balance with Ayurveda

According to the Ayurvedic tradition, being in a balanced state vs. being in an imbalanced state is based for everyone on their own unique constitutional balance that combines the five elements and the doshas in distinctive proportions. Although we have all three doshas present within us, most people have one or two dominant doshas. This is our prakurti, or essential nature. It reflects our balanced state or optimum health. We also have a vikruti, which is an acquired state, reflecting our imbalances or health concerns. When treating an ailment with Ayurveda, both the prakurti and the vikruti are taken into consideration.

Our Berlin yoga classes are committed to creating an environment where people can live in optimal health and wellness. We feel that Ayurveda paired with yoga can be a wonderful way to practice emotional and physical balance. Finding out how to determine your dosha can be just the beginning. If you are around this summer, check out our next workshop on Ayurveda in Berlin. 

Mastering the Monkey: Is Peace of Mind Impossible?

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“You don’t think thoughts but rather thoughts think you.”

The mind often creates a natural barrier to inner peace. If you were to sit down, right now, and say to yourself, “For the next 5 minutes I will only think of a star,” you would find it is impossible to do so. The nature of the mind is for it to wander, to work with associations and to jump from thought to thought. In some ways, that’s its job. And in others, it ends up keeping most people feeling restless.

 

The mind is often compared to a monkey- jumping from one branch to another with no control.

Let’s follow the “monkey” and use the example above of focusing on the star; soon, I realize that the star reminds me of all the falling stars I have seen in my life. This thought brings me onto all the wishes I have made on those stars. That, in turn, makes me think of unfulfilled wishes, which reminds me that I’m unhappy. When I think about being unhappy, that tenses up my chest. Feeling the tightness in my chest reminds me that I have to buy an inhaler for my asthma- and why am I unhappy anyway?…

This is how the mind works. Within just a minute or two of thoughts, I have not only had mental fluctuations but I also have had emotional reactions from serene to sad. Every emotional reaction has produced a physical reaction, in this example my chest tightening, which has taken me through so much in such a short period of time.

My yoga teacher used to say, “When the mind can be fixed on the same thing for 3 seconds- that is called attention. When the mind can be fixed on the same thing for 12 seconds- that is called concentration. If you can concentrate 12 times (12 sec x12=144 seconds) then THAT is called meditation.”

Photo by Rob from Cambridge MA

Practicing concentration techniques are very important for one to feel centered and grounded. Meditation is a great tool to make the most of the minds power by making sure it is not wasting it’s energy. In our berlin yoga classes, we practice these techniques by observing the body during the Asanas, by using the practice of Tratak and through Yoga Nidra. Because the mind is so important, it is vital to learn how best to use it. Once we have mastered these techniques, then we will be able to take the practice to a more advanced level in which we can find a way to master the monkey!

Tuning in with your Intuition with Pranayama Breath Work – June 30th

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Intuition is the ability to understand or know something immediately without needing physical proof. This knowing is often based on your feelings rather than facts.

We are all naturally intuitive beings. We often have a “gut feeling” on what we need to do in any given situation. We know what the next move needs to be, because it just feels right when we think about it. But then often something happens. A thought comes up, a belief, and then we decide not to listen to our intuition. This is especially common in our western society because we are raised to follow our mind much more than our intuition.

The interesting thing about intuition however, is that is not about the head, is not about figuring anything out with the mind, it comes from a much truer source: the heart.

The heart is an amazing organ. At a physical level the heart is the most powerful source of electromagnetic waves in the body. Recent studies of the Heart Math Institute in California confirm that the heart emits waves that are 60 times stronger than that of the brain. They spread around the body in 360 degrees reaching up to four feet outside the body.

Through the electromagnetic field created by the heart we are broadcasting and receiving emotions, information, like radio waves in a continual exchange with the world. 　Isn’t that fantastic?

We are all such incredibly intuitive beings. We don’t even need to develop our intuition. We just need to re-learn to listen to our emotions, see how intuition talks to us and most of all, once we get the message, TRUST IT!

In our next pranayama yoga session here in the English Yoga Studio in Berlin, we will be using the pranayama breath work technique to open a new layer of the heart center and connect to our source of intuition. We will be working on feeling how your intuition talks to you. And what beliefs are stopping you from following it.

From my personal experience I can say, the more I follow my intuition the more I thrive in life. So I invite you to join us in this pranayama gathering that has the potential to put you right on track with that most juicy part of yourself.

Our next Pranayama workshop is on Sunday June 30, at our Yoga Studio in Kreuzberg.

Time: 16h00-17h30

Teacher: Rakel Sosa

Cost: 20 €

Places are limited.

For any question concerning this workshop you can contact us at: pranayamabreathwork@gmail.com

Yoga Summer Schedule at English Yoga Berlin

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The summer brings changes every year and 2013 is no exception!  Since many of our students will be traveling to their far away lands during the summer months, we will be offering a reduced schedule for the months of July and August.  In September, when the temperatures fall again, the leaves start changing color and people are back to their routines we will open more classes again to accomodate everyone’s return to the beautiful city of Berlin.

Till then, we wish you all a beautiful summer! A summer full of relaxing moments, many sun salutations to the glowing sun who has finally graced us with its presence,  a couple of swims here and there, and lots of yoga whenever you find yourself in Berlin!

Here’s  our summer schedule for the months of July and August:

Tuesday

Thursday

 18.00- 19.30

Hatha Yoga

 18.00 – 19.30

Classical Yoga

 20.00- 21.30

Vinyasa Flow

 20.00 – 21.30

Classical Yoga

New “Community Class” at English Yoga Berlin

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Accessibility: the quality of being at hand when needed.

English Yoga Berlin offers a Community class

At English Yoga Berlin, we feel that accessibility is an important part of our collective. We want our teaching to be available to everyone who needs yoga: that is to say, everyone who needs more wellbeing, relaxation, self-care and community in their lives. We think accessibility is important because we feel that all people should have an equal right to self-care, health and wellbeing, and because we believe that liberation is a collective process that cannot happen in a vacuum.

“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting our time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”  Lilla Watson, Australian Murri Activist and Artist

The Barriers

There are many common barriers to accessibility in yoga as it is practiced in the West. Some of the most obvious factors include scarce money, scarce time, vigorous or rigid asana practice, misunderstandings about what yoga is and other factors can keep people from using this practice to change their lives for the better. There are, however, also many other forms of exclusion at work that may not be so obvious- cultural biases, gender norming, racism, trauma, fat phobia, homophobia and the list, unfortunately, goes on. In short, there are a lot of things that keep people from doing yoga.

The Solution

We believe that the solution is a commitment to dialogue, change and accountability. This means that, in order to become more accessible, yoga businesses need to be actively asking the question: “Who is not here, and why?” We also need to remain open and willing to hear the answers and to try strategies to create more inclusive spaces. Why not Wheelchair yoga? Why not Trauma Sensitive yoga? Why not classes in Turkish or Spanish? Why not pay what you can classes? And once the dialogue is started and the change is initiated, the accountability can come from feedback. Accessibility is a process. It requires continual adjustment, because communities are always changing.

Making yoga in Berlin more accesible

As a collective and member of the Berlin community, we are committed to accessibility. This is not limited to English speakers or to people of a certain economic standing. We are proud that our teachers are as international as our students, and that our student base reflects an impressive linguistic and cultural diversity. We are also happy to offer a small, intimate space for our classes because we feel that this helps to create safe space for everyone. We have worked hard to keep our prices as low as we can while still making a living wage for those committed teachers who bring so much heart and soul to our classes. But we are aware that some students are still experiencing financial difficulties. And so, we are happy to announce that, starting in June, we will offer a weekly donation-based Community Class rotationally taught by each of our instructors.

If you or someone you know needs yoga, but are currently unable to afford a full priced class, please pass this information on. We honestly think that yoga on an individual level can change our collective and community experience, ultimately changing the world. We look forward to seeing you on the mat!

Yamas and Niyamas Part 4

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The final installment in our 4 part series about Yamas and Niyamas would not be complete  without talking about passion, self-reflection and surrender. In part one of this series, we talked about Patanjali´s limbs of classical yoga practice and started to explore the ethical guideposts within them (aka the Yamas). In part two of Yamas and Niyamas, we spoke about aspects of self-control with regard to possessions, sexuality and energy. Part three covered clarity and calm with regard to your inner life–the first installment of the Niyamas.

The Yamas and Niyamasa are ethical elements of practice, and they are what takes yoga from the level of physical exercise to a deeper, potentially life-altering point. All aspects of human life can be touched if a person is able to understand and practice the deep implications of yoga. Once again, the Yamas are ethical principles about  attitudes and behaviors that cause suffering (greed, dishonesty, violence, etc). The Niyamas (the second limb) are the attitudes and behaviors that yogis can work towards to cultivate happiness and to improve their lives and environments.

Tapas
“Tapas” is an attitude of passion and commitment. Some people think of it as discipline, or austerity. The word actually comes from the Sanskrit verb ”to burn”-so Tapas is all about fiery consistency. I think that we often get this mixed up with difficulty and striving. I prefer to think of it more as a gentle flame that inspires us to keep going, even when the tasks at hand seem very, very mundane! Think of doing your family’s laundry, or having the same conversation again and again with a friend who is struggling to understand something about themselves. Tapas brings us to do these things with patience, engagement and dedication.

What areas of your life and practice feel repetitive or lukewarm? Could being more present and engaged with these areas make you feel more excited about them?

Svadhaya
Svadhaya means active self-reflection, or study of the self. This doesn’t mean egotistical navelgazing. Rather, it’s about learning enough about yourself to see that you are part of something much, much bigger. Asana practice brings the body and mind to a place of quiet, so that we can experience our union with everything. Western Science calls this web of interbeing ´ecology´. The Yogic scriptures call it ´reality´. Both are correct, and Svadhaya is a practice that allows us to recognize this.  Svadhaya is an attitude that helps us to transcend projection, isolation and other illusions that come standard with a human body and mind.

How does yoga help you ”see” yourself in different ways? Do you have other practices that nourish this ability?

Isvara Pranidahna
The last Niyama is Isvara Pranidahna, which means ‘surrender’ or ‘faith’.  Simply put, this Niyama is about chilling the fuck out. Isvara Pranidahna means that you do your best, in the moment, with the tools you have, and then you release your attachment to the outcome. As the Bhagavad Gita says, “the future is none of your business, so don’t worry about it!” Focus on doing your best in the present moment, and leave the rest for another day.

Do your expectations and worries about a particular project or relationship hold you back from enjoying it fully in the moment? If you take a trial run at not worrying about controlling that thing, even for a minute or two, how does it feel?

Our Hatha yoga in English is a discipline of non violence that is about practice and experience, rather than dogma or rules. We offer yoga in Kreuzberg for all levels of physical ability. We believe that yoga in Berlin and around the world should be nurturing to your body and soul. And as we become happier and more balanced as individuals, we can go out and make our world a better place. We are happy to offer you a home in our sangha and hope we can offer you a place of belonging, growth and rest.

Tuning in with your Intuition – Pranayama Breath Work JUNE 30TH

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We are excited to announce the third of Rakel´s Pranayama workshops! For those of you who did not attend the first two, Rakel Sosa is a very experienced Raja Yoga teacher who specializes in Pranayama (yogic breathing). She has trained widely and internationally, with many well respected teachers, and we are very happy to give her a space to do her thing here in Berlin! You can learn more about Rakel and her projects here.

Intuition is the ability to understand or know something immediately without needing physical proof, based on your feelings rather than facts. That’s how the Cambridge dictionary defines the word.

We are all natural intuitive beings. We often have a “gut feeling” on what we need to do in any given situation. We know what the next move needs to be, because it just feels right when we think about it. But then often something happens. A thought comes up, a belief, and then we decide not to listen to our intuition. Noone’s really to blame since in our western society we are raised to follow our mind much more than our intuition.

The thing with intuition is that is not about the head, it is not about figuring anything out with the mind, it comes from a much truer source: the heart.

Yes, the heart is an amazing organ. At a physical level the heart is the most powerful source of electromagnetic waves in the body. Recent studies of the Heart Math Institute in California confirm that the heart emits waves that are 60 times stronger than that of the brain. They spread around the body in 360 degrees reaching up to four feet outside the body.

Through the electromagnetic field created by the heart we are broadcasting and receiving emotions, information, like radio waves in a continual exchange with the world. Isn’t that fantastic?

We are all such incredible intuitive beings. We don’t even need to develop our intuition. We just need to re-learn to listen to our emotions, see how intuition talks to us and most of all, once we get the message, TRUST IT!

In our next pranayama yoga session here in the English Yoga Studio in Berlin, we will be using the pranayama breath work technique to open a new layer of the heart center and connect to our source of intuition. We will be working on feeling how is it that your intuition talks to you. And what beliefs are stopping you from following it.

From my personal experience I can say, the more I follow my intuition the more I thrive in life. So I invite you to join us in this pranayama gathering that will put you right on track with that most juicy part of yourself.

Our next Pranayama workshop is on Sunday June 30, at our Yoga Studio in Kreuzberg (directions here).

Time: 16h00-17h30

Teacher: Rakel Sosa

Cost: 20 €

Places are limited.

For any question concerning this workshop you can contact us at: 
pranayamabreathwork@gmail.com

May 13th: A Day of Free Yoga!!!

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We are very happy to introduce and welcome two new teachers, Pedro and Juli, to our English Yoga Collective!!

      Juli goddess posePedro

Pedro and Juli will  be teaching on Mondays starting from May 13th. Pedro will be teaching Classical Yoga and Juli will be teaching a gentle Vinyasa Flow. To help you get to know them better, May 13th will be a day of English free yoga classes in Berlin!

When:            17h30-19h30 (Classical Yoga) & 20hoo-21h30 (Vinyasa Flow)

 

Where:          Görlitzerstr. 39

Who:              Pedro and Juli

How much: on this day all yoga is for free!

 As usual, classes will be limited to 10 participants, so make sure you arrive early to get a spot!

Spring Cleaning with Pranayama

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Photo by Fern

Breathing is the first thing we do when we are born, the last thing before dying. Our breath is the main vital force that keeps us alive. So, it is a good thing to ask: How is your breathing doing? Besides the fact that of course you are alive, how are you breathing? Are you exploring your breath in its full potential?

At the English Yoga Studio we invite you to experience a very particular and ancient modality of the Pranayama Breathing technique. A powerful exercise that will help you unblock tensions lodged in your body, this work is designed to help you to connect deeply with your vital creative energy. A real resource of wellbeing, this is an opportunity to relax, learn more about yourself and open the way to big fun and inspiration in your life!

 

Join our first Pranayama workshop and breathing circle on Sunday April 28, at our Yoga Studio in Kreuzberg.

Time: 16:00 – 17:30

Teacher: Rakel Sosa

Cost: 20 €

Click here for more details about this and other Berlin yoga workshops.